{
  "id": 3171073,
  "title": "One-third seats could boost Sabah, Sarawak's federal leverage",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/08/25/one-third-seats-could-boost-sabah-sarawaks-federal-leverage",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-08-25T02:40:24.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "New Straits Times",
    "slug": "new-straits-times",
    "url": "https://www.nst.com.my/news/nation/2026/08/1518342/one-third-seats-could-boost-sabah-sarawaks-federal-leverage"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": null,
  "summary": "Political analysts are suggesting that allocating one-third of parliamentary seats to Sabah and Sarawak could significantly increase the two states' influence in the formation of the federal government. Currently, Sabah and Sarawak hold about a quarter of the Dewan Rakyat seats, but if their representation were increased to one-third, they would only need the support of 34 MPs from the peninsula to achieve a simple majority of 112 seats. In contrast, a Peninsular coalition seeking to govern without Sabah and Sarawak's support would need to win nearly 78% of the remaining 144 seats, a considerably higher threshold. This proposal has gained renewed attention as concerns grow that greater cooperation among Peninsular parties could allow a future government to be formed without relying heavily on East Malaysian support.",
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}